So I was listening to NPR (national public radio) yesterday and they were talking about ways people have changed their lives in the past few months and they wanted listeners to write in and tell them about it. Well it got me thinking, Have I changed the way I make purchases/live my life since the DOW dropped 777 points about 4 months ago?
At first I thought, well not that much because I don't have that much to begin with but the more I thought about it the more I realized I really have changed. I don't know if I mentioned this before but K works in finance in Washington DC. He is in one of the most vulnerable jobs right now and has been working his tale off the past few months (ie: working until 10:30pm every night and traveling every other week). We didn't really start to make changes until his company laid off 10% of their work force in early Dec. (K was fine, praise the lord) but he watched senior level execs walk out of their offices with their heads hung low leaving behind everything they had worked so hard for and that is when it really sunk in that that could be him at any minute.
Since then we have completely slowed and/or stopped our spending on material goods that we don't need. I find myself avoiding the mall and shopping at Target, Kohls, Wal-Mart even more than I did before. I now have a rule that I only buy enough food for us to eat that week so nothing goes to waste. I used to say things like oh my gosh those pants are only $100, now I scour the final sale items and try save as much as I can. Because as we have learned you never know what could happen. We have savings so we're not super worried but still you never know, what if we lose our jobs at the same time or what if the savings don't stretch as far as we planned?
It's definitely been hard trying to plan my wedding as I watch the economy. It really makes me think twice before I splurge because I start thinking, I'm upset about whether or not I'm going to have the right food or flowers at my wedding while there are people out there losing their jobs and taking their families down with them.
So I was just wondering, has anyone else felt the pinch of this economy?
I've been a poor college kid for three years, so I'm used to never buying anything lol.
ReplyDeleteI feel terribly guilty spending $20-30 bucks on a pair of pants or shoes. I'm gonna have a really hard time shopping when I get married!! (For groceries and stuff)